by A. J. Downey
“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
We fell into step and made strides until Fen deemed it safe to order up a ride.
16
Raven…
“Where are they?” I wondered out loud. It was late, the darkest dark outside Aspen’s shop windows.
She sighed and looked at me with something like pity and said, “When the guys say club business, it’s none of our business. I’ve seen it where Fen’s been gone a couple of days. No explanation and definitely no questions asked. It’s difficult sometimes, but it’s how they are,” she said with a bit of a shrug.
I smiled and thought about it and nodded.
“That’s… that’s a lot,” I said and sucked in a deep breath. “But in all fairness, my schedule can get pretty weird too.”
She smiled at me and nodded. “It can be a lot sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade Fen for the world. It’s just a part of him, you know?”
I nodded slowly and said, “Yeah, I might have some idea.”
It was true, I did. Burners led an artistic and nomadic lifestyle for the most part. I know I had certainly been guilty of following my heart and my creative purpose to the detriment of a relationship or two. It would be hypocritical of me to expect or demand anything from Mace when it came down to it.
He had his life, and I had mine. They would either fit or—
“Wait!” I looked back over my shoulder at Aspen who was working some clay on her wheel. “Don’t go out there. Let them settle down and get showers or do whatever. They’ll come find us when they’re ready.”
“You act like they were doing something illegal,” I said jokingly but the look on her face said I had hit the nail right on the head. She looked away.
“Club business is none of our business. Is it patriarchal and kind of bull?” she asked. “Yes, but it’s also practical. You learn to look the other way, or things won’t last long.”
I wandered back over to my seat and dropped into it a little heavily.
“And is that worth the trade-off?” I asked softly.
She smiled at me then and it was a genuine one as she pushed an escaped blond curl from her ponytail off her forehead.
“It’s absolutely worth it,” she said. “Do I worry? Yes, but I’ve also developed an understanding.”
She worked the mound of clay before her into the beginning of a mug shape. She’d actually been working on them for hours and just about every available surface in her workshop had one on it drying.
“What do you think they do?” I asked curiously, staring out her little shop’s window at the back of the house where the men had disappeared.
“Oh, eventually, you’re around long enough, you get some ideas,” she said and sighed. “Nothing’s ever confirmed, but you’ll know.”
“I’ve been in situations like that before,” I said a bit grimly. Drugs were a thing in Burning Man circles. Some more insidious than others. Most for recreational purposes. Still, addiction was pretty rampant.
“I shouldn’t say anymore,” she said kindly and smiled. “I’m afraid I’m giving you the wrong ideas.”
I shook my head slightly and said, “If anything were to give me the wrong idea, it’s their already established reputations,” I murmured. “They’re very confusing in that regard.”
Aspen laughed and nodded. “Yes, they are!” she agreed with gusto. “Despite all appearances, and rough exteriors, their world makes more sense in a lot of ways. It’s simpler, somehow.”
I nodded. “So simple it gets complicated,” I said, thinking about some of the activist circles I ran in.
Aspen nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right.”
“A lot of drama then?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“Oh, no! Not like most places and with most people,” she said. “Usually, a quick fistfight and it’s quashed.” I chuckled and nodded, and she went on, “They’re passionate.” A small smile touched her lips. “You’ll never be loved as fiercely as they will love you, and the family ties with them run deeper than any blood relative tie I’ve ever had. There’s a lot more that’s good than bad in this life and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
I smiled then and said, “Now that’s definitely something I know something about.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Chosen family being better and more supportive than the family you’re born into. Everyone needs to find their own tribe and each tribe is going to be different. This is no exception,” I mused. She nodded and her smile said that she was relieved that maybe I did understand. I think it had maybe taken some serious getting used to for Aspen at first.
I understood that. She was a nice woman, but she was also very… what had Mace called us? Citizen. She was normal, not that it was a bad thing. I could appreciate her deep connection to and general earthiness. She was kind, and sweet and while I couldn’t fathom what she was doing with a big Pagan like Fenris, who was admittedly pretty damn scary – I couldn’t deny what I’d seen between them as the real deal.
He loved her every bit as fiercely as she claimed and she, I think, sort of balanced him in some hidden way. Her earthiness brought him back to Earth, grounded him. It was absolutely undeniable looking at them that they were each other’s missing pieces.
I couldn’t tell you how I’d longed for the same thing in my own life. How I had pined for it to the point I’d been blind to my vulnerability. I had no desire to ever be prey ever again. Not like that. But my heart was a soft thing, and I also had no desire to let what happened to me make me hard. I didn’t want to be ensconced in a bitterness as to be blind to possibility and goddess, I couldn’t tell you how hard and fine the line was to walk, but when the door to Aspen’s shop opened behind me and I turned to meet Mace’s solemn gaze?
It suddenly felt effortless. It suddenly didn’t feel like a tightrope act at all. All my anxiety and misgivings melted away when his expression softened as he looked me over and found me well. I could suddenly breathe again.
“Hey, you!” Aspen called as Fenris edged in behind and around Mace. I heard the man grunt and the sound of a kiss being exchanged behind me, but I couldn’t look. My attention was firmly captured by Mace.
“Doing okay in here?” he asked mildly, and I smiled.
“Am now,” I declared, getting up from my seat. Without even thinking about it, he reached for me and tugged me into the circle of his arms. I hugged him and a fine tremor went through him as he held me tight.
“You alright?” I asked carefully, whispering in his ear.
“I will be,” he said. “You ready to go? Or you want to hang with Aspen a little more?” I appreciated that he asked. I turned to look and giggled. Fenris had captured her mouth with his and slid his hand into the neckline of her blouse. He was massaging one of her breasts while the mug she’d been shaping between her hands had turned to a mass of ruin. She certainly didn’t seem to care and to be honest, were I her and Fen, Mace? I don’t think I would care either.
“I don’t think we’ll be missed,” I murmured. Mace huffed a slight laugh and walked me outside, closing the door behind us.
“You sure you’re alright?” I asked him carefully.
He nodded and murmured, “Just tired and missed you.”
“Mm, I wished you hadn’t had to go,” I whispered, cuddling closer to him in the damp chill of your typical Pacific Northwest winter.
“Club business,” he said softly, letting his gaze roam my face, the slight smile on his lips fracturing my heart with want.
God and Goddess, he looks at me the way I’ve always wished for, I thought to myself and on the heels of that thought, I darted my head forward and kissed him.
He hummed in pleasure and captured my face between his hands, putting his arms around me and pulling me in closer still.
“I’m sorry it went so late,” he murmured against my lips, pecking the tip of my nose as the clouds rolled overhead in the stiff breeze.
“I’m a night owl,” I whi
spered. “All is not lost.”
“Did you have a good dinner with Aspen and Vyking?” he asked, and I smiled and nodded.
“I did, I’m sorry you had to miss it.”
“Me too.” He turned and arm over my shoulders and hugging me into his side, we made for the stairs on the back side of the barn to the loft.
“Did you at least get something to eat?” I asked.
He nodded. “We did. Had a couple of drinks.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” I confessed. “I was a little nervous about staying here without you.”
“I’m really sorry, babe. It happens sometimes. I hope it wasn’t too bad?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Aspen is great, I’m just a big ol’ scaredy cat.”
He stopped on the landing, hand on the door to the loft and faced me. “You have every reason to be. You feel whatever you need to feel. I get it if it’s going to take some serious heavy lifting on my part. You don’t have to trust me but thank you for doing it anyway today.” He pressed his lips against my forehead, and I leaned into him.
“Don’t suppose you’re up for giving out a free cock ride right now,” I said, biting my bottom lip to keep from grinning too stupidly.
He grinned and laughed. Nodding, he said, “I think that can be arranged,” as he opened the door for me. I slipped inside, trailing my hand down his chest, skipping it over air to land it in his palm to draw him in after me.
I wanted him, wanted this, so much…
17
Mace…
Laying eyes on Raven made the horror of the last few hours, and the long stint of boredom before it completely worth it. The light in her face, and the way she bit her lip, I felt a thrill run through me when she asked me to give her a cock ride.
This woman was magical.
I would kill a dozen more men for this woman. I smiled to myself.
Maybe then Fen wouldn’t give me shit about being amateur hour.
The loft above the barn wasn’t the most romantic place, but when Aspen had her kilns fired up, it wasn’t cold. Add the lack of light, the moon shining in the window over my bed, it was romantic, not just fucking dark. I put my arms around her and kissed her. “I’ll give you a cock ride, woman, but I’m not just gonna jump on you and ride you down to the strip and back. I want to ride you all,” I kissed her, “night,” I pushed my hips into hers, “long.”
Raven groaned and pushed back against me. Something certainly had her in the mood, and I really wanted to be in the mood, but it was going to take a bit for me to get over what I had just done. Killing a man didn’t have my dick hard and ready to tear her up. Just thinking about what I had done actually seemed to take me out of the mood.
That was okay, there was totally an answer for this, and it was going to put a fuckton of gold stars next to my name. Motherfucking foreplay.
I kissed her, where could I go? Earlobes, she liked that. Neck? There wasn’t a woman alive who didn’t like her neck being kissed.
Then I thought of Bianchi, how easily the flesh and blood of his throat had parted under Fen’s blade, and for a second, I pressed my lips against her skin and breathed out.
I was not going to fucking puke again.
Fuck that.
When everything seemed to settle down, I looped back, lips to lips, my hands in her hair, her real hair.
The wig still bothered me, but it wasn’t here.
I pulled her shirt down low so that I could put my lips against her collarbone. There was something about that I liked. There was nothing sexual about her collarbone, or that little gap between them at the base of her neck. I kissed it, and let my hands wander a bit, grabbing her ass, and grinding against her. She seemed to be a little surprised that I hadn’t just gone right for the treat in the middle, but she didn’t know what I had done.
I was getting warmer, closer to being in that mood.
I started pulling her shirt up, and she was more than willing to pull it off more expertly than I was able to. Her tits were fantastic, and I took them in my hands and then buried my face in them.
I found something there that I didn’t expect, relief.
It was absolutely dumb, but with my face buried in her chest, her scent filling my nose, I forgot all the horror and the blood, and I learned the meaning of one of the words from English class that I never really got. Sublime. This was sublime.
Maybe subtle? I fucking sucked at English.
Didn’t matter.
Her nipple in my mouth was exquisite. Her hands were in my hair, and the more she raked her nails across my scalp, the less I cared about anything. It was beautiful and if I were a softer person, I might have shed a tear, maybe a few.
She let out a breathy “oh fuck yes” when I let myself ease down to my knees, dragging my lips down her stomach to the elastic band of her black panties.
Did she own any other color?
Didn’t matter, either. It was the wrapping paper on the gift. And like the wrapping on a gift, it didn’t stay on long. Panties were easier to pull down than getting a shirt off.
It wasn’t the first time I had seen the reveal, and not even the first time I had seen Raven’s reveal. The dark strip of hair seemed like an arrow pointing down to where I should pay attention. There was a hint of pink, the shape of her lips, and the hint of what was concealed between those.
I kissed her hips and eased the panties all the way off her. She kicked her pants and the rest away and backed to the mattress, dropping back onto it.
“I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me.” She sighed.
“What, go down on you?” I asked.
“No, I mean make me feel things, in my heart, not just down there,” she said, running her fingers through my hair.
“I want to make you feel things all over,” I said, grinning at her.
I felt my cock twitch. Finally.
She leaned back on the mattress and slowly parted her legs for me. It was glory, nothing but glory. There was that perfect moment where her lips clung together and then parted, showing me her world. I sighed out and kissed the top of her pussy, letting my tongue search for her clit. She groaned. I went down on her like I was drowning, and her thighs were my life preserver.
God help me. I could have died right there.
There was a moment when I tasted her, the scent of her filling my head, and her flavor on my tongue, I felt contentment, as sharp as her taste, fill me.
“Raven.” I whispered her name and buried my face in her. I felt her moan, and her hands were rough against my head. She groaned and rolled her hips so that what she wanted me to lick was pressed against my face. I was never one to deny a beautiful woman’s pleasure.
I undid my belt and dropped my pants. It was more awkward than I wanted, but I was determined to not part myself from her sweet pussy until my cock was hard and free. I couldn’t go down on her and fuck her at the same time, I was nowhere near that flexible.
“Oh God, Mace,” she said huskily as I pulled away from her. I knew my face was wet with her juices, and my cock was throbbing. I moved to enter her but didn’t immediately penetrate her. I wanted to savor the feeling, how wet she was, and how I could feel how hot she was. There was also an almost religious reverence, making a moment of prayer, giving thanks to whatever god looked down on me, for her.
The first few strokes didn’t enter her, but instead I was just grinding myself against the furiously pink lips between her legs. I groaned, excited, anticipating the moment. Then I pushed the head of my cock into her. She made a sound that I couldn’t describe, and there was nothing but desire as I buried myself inside her.
“Raven…” I gasped.
“Yes,” she said, her hands pulling my face to hers, to kiss her.
Our strokes were slow, measured, sweet. I wanted to lose myself inside her.
And I did.
For a long time, that was all we did, devouring kisses from her lips and laying them on her neck, and shoulder. I groane
d and tried to thrust like I could put more of myself into her than just my cock. The way she moved under me, if I could have, she would have taken everything I could have given.
She changed positions on me, pushing me back with a foot so she could turn over onto her knees, instead of her back. Her arched back and presented bottom invited me back to my task. The way she glistened in the dim light told me that she was happy with the slow pace I was keeping. How easy would it have been to forget patience, and hammer away for a few brief moments and then blow my load inside her?
I took her from behind and she went from just enjoying the ride to picking where we were going, and how we were going to get there. I could feel her getting closer and closer to her first orgasm. I went quicker, grabbing her by the hips, and pushing her through it.
The goats were probably bothered by the noise we made.
I felt when it happened; she tightened up around me. I held her tight and kept going until she was overcome and fell forward, away from me. I followed her down, but rather than plunge back into her, ride her again, I pushed her legs apart and went down on her again. It was different, but hotter, and wetter, and she recovered quickly enough to push herself back against my face and howled with ecstasy.
Our positions changed, and I found new ones I had never tried before. I wasn’t sure if these were entirely new things I had stumbled upon, or if Raven, in her years attending Burning Man, and whatever happened there, was teaching me new ones.
I held her leg, my face pressed against the bottom of her foot. She was laid out on the mattress, as I thrust into her. I found myself increasingly caught up in the excitement, not just the feel of her, the scent of her, but all the thoughts of her just being with me.
I managed to pull out, because in our haste, there had been no thought of condoms on either of our parts. She grabbed me by my balls, and then it was over. I grunted and felt everything come spurting out of me. I looked down to see her pulling on my shaft until there was nothing but a few drops running down her wrist, and the rest spread across the inside of her thigh and spattered across her pussy.
